“Fox at the Fox”Atlanta‘s Fox Theatre

Sunday, September 1 at 3:00 PM

Virgil Fox receives accolades at the console of“Mighty Mo” following his concert at Atlanta’s FoxTheatre in 1976.

Photo by P. Nowell Briscoe

Since the death of Virgil Fox in 1980, the VirgilFox Society has scheduled an annual memorial

concert. Beginning in 2000, the concerts took on aheightened visibility. The 2000 Virgil Fox MemorialConcert took place at New York’s The RiversideChurch, and was coordinated with a national pro-motion of organ concerts by the American Guild ofOrganists. The 2001 concert took place inPhiladelphia’s Lord & Taylor, formerly the JohnWanamaker Store. Co-produced by Friends of theWanamaker Organ, it coincided with the 90thanniversary of the legendary instrument. Both ofthese concerts were on Columbus Day weekends,in order to accommodate people attending fromout of town.

The weekend of Labor Day 2002 was chosento accommodate both guests and the heavy book-ing schedule of Atlanta’s 4,500-seat Fox Theatre,where Virgil Fox played legendary, sold out “Foxat the Fox” concerts in the 1970s. The theatre fea-tures one of America’s great theatre-style concertorgans, a four manual, 42 rank Möller dubbed“Mighty Mo,” which was a favorite of America’smost famous organist—as was Atlanta itself.

Four well-known organists, all classicallytrained but who play primarily on theatre-styleorgans—and who all were friends and col-leagues of Virgil Fox—perform this 22nd annualmemorial concert: Larry Douglas Embury, TomHazleton, Lyn Larsen, and Jonas Nordwall. Thegala concert contains elements of multi-media, asdid Fox’s famous 1970’s all-Bach touring attrac-tion, “Heavy Organ.”

The day before, Saturday, August 31 addi-tional events related to VIRGIL FOX FESTIVAL2002—the name chosen to represent the expand-ed annual celebration of the legacy of VirgilFox—took place. That evening a former student ofFox’s, Richard Morris, performed at Spivey Hall,Clayton College and State University, in nearbyMorrow, Georgia. Artist-in-Residence at SpiveyHall, Richard Morris was personally chosen byEmilie Parmalee Spivey, one of Virgil Fox’s greatAtlanta friends, to fill the position.

The Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ, athree manual, 79 rank instrument built by FratelliRuffatti of Padua, Italy in 1992, was donated to

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the College by Walter and Emilie Spivey—alongwith a beautiful, acoustically ideal 400-seat con-cert hall. A reception after Richard Morris’“Tribute to Virgil Fox” on the Albert SchweitzerMemorial Organ honored Anna Moffo, recipientof the 2002 Albert Schweitzer Music Award.

Also on Saturday, at the festival hotel’sGeorgian Terrace Conference Center, the VirgilFox Society sponsored a series of sessions—bothentertaining and educational—about Virgil Fox,the Fox Theatre organ, and other subjects of inter-est to Virgil Fox fans and organ aficionados.Richard Torrence and Marshall Yaeger, authors ofthe highly acclaimed 2001 biography commis-sioned by the Virgil Fox Society, “Virgil Fox (TheDish),” were on hand to tell stories and answerquestions in one of the sessions. Joe G. Patten,restorer and curator of the Möller organ, led asession about restoring “Mighty Mo” and the FoxTheatre. Robert Hebble, one of Fox’s closest col-leagues, and himself a leading concert organist,composer, and educator, led a session aboutworking with Fox on musical arrangements andrecordings. Steven Frank, Virgil Fox SocietyPresident, led a session about studying the organwith Virgil Fox, and other Fox students joined in.Finally, Anna Moffo hosted a question andanswer session about her career in opera—muchof it enjoyed during Metropolitan Opera tours,performed in Atlanta at the Fox Theatre.

David Byrd was commissioned to design thisposter for “Heavy Organ” in 1972. It’s as stylishnow as it was innovative then, and seems idealfor a concert at the Egyptian- and Moorish-influ-enced Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

Byrd’s concept was based on a publicityphoto of Virgil Fox, and on Marshall Yaeger’scopy for a Virgil Fox concert flyer that actuallypredated “Heavy Organ” by several years:

The Organ—Born in Egypt two-thousand yearsago; adopted by the Christian Church to fill thesoaring Gothic space of stone cathedrals; amuted orchestra of pierced cylinders taught tochant in diverse voices by craftsmen of everynation in the Western World; Chief Celebratorof life, for a thousand years, Chief Mourner forthe dead.

J. S. Bach—Made song and countersong fororgan voices, his achievement equal in splen-dor to the great stone flowers of the WesternWorld—the Roses of Cathedral windows; per-formed by five generations of musicians, who,over and over, set each shard of blue, of red,of white and green, painstakingly, worshipful-ly, anonymously, in place.

Virgil Fox—The greatest living interpreter ofBach’s organ music; whose genius shot a burstof sun into the rose, poured color into eachdark glass, and made the blue, a cobalt; red,carnelian; white, an opaline, and yellow, yellowdiamond. To listen, one must look for colors.

One must go; for in a thousand years, how shorta time there is between the rising and the set-ting of a sun!

Whom shall we admire more? Bach, or Bach’sinterpreter? The Rose, or the light behind it?

A reception for reception ticket holders will be held at6:00 PM at the Georgian Terrace Hotel across PeachtreeStreet from the Fox Theatre. The reception honors all ofthe artists and participants in VIRGIL FOX FESTIVAL 2002.Admission to the reception is by ticket, which can be pur-chased at the entrance to the “Gone With The Wind”Grand Ballroom. Please join us this evening.

Richard Morris appeared as soloist in New York’sCarnegie Hall, Town Hall, and Alice Tully Halls;

appeared on NBC’s Today Show; and performedat Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts inWashington. He is head of the Organ Departmentat Clayton College & State University, and isOrganist-in-Residence at Spivey Hall. He performslive broadcasts for National Public Radio on theRuffatti organ at Spivey Hall. He has recorded forKlavier Records, New World Records, CrystalClear Records, T&F Records, Gothic Records, andR&R Records.

Richard Morris began his performing careerin his native Atlanta at the age of twelve as pianosoloist with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, perform-ing the Grieg Piano Concerto at the Fox Theatrebefore an audience of 4,500, and was soloist inthe Atlanta Symphony Youth Concerts during highschool. He received his Bachelor’s Degree inpiano at Rollins College under Thomas Brockman,and studied organ with Catherine Crozier. Grantsfrom the French Government enabled him to studyin France with the late Nadia Boulanger. He wasa Fulbright Scholar at the Academy of Music inVienna as a pupil of Richard Hauser. Upon hisreturn to this country in 1965, he earned thedegree of Master of Divinity from NashotahHouse Seminary in Wisconsin and spent severalyears in the parish ministry.

He began his career as a concert organist in1973, largely through the influence and encour-agement of the late Emilie Spivey and Virgil Fox,with whom he coached repertory. For the past 25years, Mr. Morris has performed an average of50 concerts a season in North America, as wellas for national and regional conventions of theAGO and as a soloist with orchestras throughoutthe country. Mr. Morris served as consultant onthe tonal design of Spivey Hall’s AlbertSchweitzer Memorial Organ. He is alsoOrganist/Choirmaster at St. Peter and St. PaulEpiscopal Church in Marietta, Georgia.

Spivey HallSaturday, August 31

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“Fox at the Fox”P r o g r a m

Lyn Larsen

Tom Hazleton

Intermission

Jonas Nordwall

Presentation ofThe 2002 Albert Schweitzer Music Award

to Anna Moffo

Larry Douglas Embury

P r e s e n t e d b y T h e V i r g i l F o x S o c i e t y

Produced by Len Levasseur and Coordinated by Richard Torrence

Video Production by Lance Levasseur

“Come, Sweet Death” visuals for “9-10-11: A Musical Offering”by Marshall Yaeger, using his patented Kaleidoplex image created for

Virgil Fox and “Heavy Organ” In 1972

Recordings of today’s artists are being sold in the lobby of The Fox Theatre, and at thereception following the concert in The Grand Ballroom of The Georgian Terrace Hotel

Larry Douglas Embury, Artist-in-Residence atAtlanta’s Fox Theatre, was born in Calgary,

Alberta, Canada and raised in Vancouver. He isthe great-grandson of Philip Andrew Embury, afounder of the Methodist Church in North America.

Larry studied with the Canadian concertpianist Glen Geary, with several Canadianorganists, and for two years with Richard Purvis,the noted composer and organist of SanFrancisco’s Grace Cathedral.

When he was only ten, Larry started appear-ing publicly as a soloist. At 15, he won a Youthfor Christ International piano competition; and at20, played both piano and organ at the SeattleWorld’s Fair. Soon, Larry moved to Los Angeles toassist pianist José Iturbi.

After appearing as soloist with the DesiluOrchestra, Larry moved to the Bay Area. Heorganized a home organ festival (called “OrganHoliday”) in Santa Cruz, and became the first topresent the world-famous theatre organist,George Wright, on an electronic theatre organ.

He went to work for Evelyn Terrell in SantaBarbara. Terrell’s legendary training program forhome organists brought Larry to the attention ofthe Rodgers Organ Company, where he beganworking in 1972.

As Rodgers’ Director of Product Developmentand Promotion, Larry participated in the design,creation, and introduction of several importantorgans, including “The Topper,” the Carnegie HallOrgan, and Virgil Fox’s Royal V touring organ.

When Bill Brewer created a restaurant forLarry (called “Pizza and Pipes”) in Daly City,California, Larry moved south to became organistof that establishment. He recorded several albumson Brewer’s organ as well as on a nearby, four-manual, 28-rank WurliTzer in Redwood City.Recently, Larry bought Brewer’s 4/28 WurliTzer,and is having it restored.

Most recently, appearing on a program withBette Midler and Audra MacDonald, Larry playedthe theme song of the Rainbow Room’s stellarevent in November, 2001, called “Stella byStarlight,” where New York’s theatre communitycelebrated the 100th birthday of the legendaryStella Adler.

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“Amaster of the King of Instruments,” accord-ing to the Los Angeles Times, … “Magical,

marvelous, musical in every best way”, statedMichael Barone of Minnesota Public Radio.Thomas Hazleton is considered to be one of fewconcert organists equally at home at the console ofclassical and theatre organs.

Tom was named “Organist of the Year” bythe American Theatre Organ Society. As a lead-ing recording artist, Hazleton has over 40 LP’s,cassette tapes, and compact discs to his credit.All have received acclaim by the public and crit-ics alike.

Thomas Hazleton studied at the SanFrancisco State University, San FranciscoConservatory of Music, and the Curtis Institute ofMusic in Philadelphia. He studied with and wasassistant to the noted organist-composer RichardPurvis at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. Hewas formerly Professor of Organ at the Universityof the Pacific and was Organist and AssociateDirector of Music at the Menlo Park (California)Presbyterian Church. Tom has concertized worldwide including at the Mormon Tabernacle,Sydney Town Hall, the John Wanamaker Store,St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, The RiversideChurch, NYC and the Crystal Cathedral.

Tom currently resides in Pennsylvania’s LehighValley where he is on the staff of the Allen OrganCo. As a leading organ designer and tonal con-sultant, his specifications appear on many of theworld’s finest organs.

Tom Hazleton

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Lyn Larsen began classical piano lessons at age 3and began playing the organ when he was 7.

After hearing George Wright play at the RialtoTheater in South Pasadena, California, his interestturned to the theatre pipe organ. Two years later,Lyn made his concert debut, in 1964 at the WilternTheatre in Los Angeles. Since then, he’s had theopportunity to perform on virtually every importantinstrument in the United States, Australia, andEngland.

Among the highlights of his career are Lyn’sappearances at the Hollywood Bowl, and anOrgan Gala concert in London’s Royal Albert Hallwith Carlo Curley and the late Pierre Cochereauof Notre Dame Catherdral in Paris. He’s also per-formed one of only two solo organ concerts evergiven at Radio City Music Hall, in New York.Also, Lyn had the good fortune to be chosen toperform the re-dedication concerts on manyrestored theatre organs, including the organs inthe Chicago Theatre and Shea’s Buffalo Theatre.In 1994, the American Theatre Organ Societynamed him Organist of the Year and inducted himinto their Hall of Fame—the youngest person everinducted.

As well as performing, Lyn is a consultant inthe tonal design and layout of both new pipeorgan installations and in the restoration of his-toric instruments all over the United States. Lynoversaw the installation and finishing of the 5-manual, 80-rank theatre organ (the largest theatreorgan in the world) in the Sanfilippo Music Salonnear Chicago, and was in charge of the restora-tion and expansion of the 4-manual, 73-rankWurlitzer in the San Sylmar museum in Sylmar,California.

Lyn Larsen has made more than 40 recordalbums. He was the first theatre organist to havea compact disc released by a national recordingcompany. One of those has the distinction ofbeing the only theatre organ recording ever tomake Billboard Magazine’s Top Ten CD List.

Jonas Nordwall is an internationally renownedclassical and popular organist. For nearly three

decades he has toured North America presentingconcerts and workshops. International concertappearances include China, Japan, and five toursof Australia. He has over 24 LPs, CDs, and cas-settes on various labels to his credit. He hasappeared on national television in both the UnitedStates and Australia, and his recordings are fre-quently heard on “Pipe Dreams.”

Jonas serves as organist for the First UnitedMethodist Church in Portland, Oregon, a positionheld since 1971, and also is the organist for theOregon Symphony Orchestra. His has made soloperformances with the Oregon SymphonyOrchestra, Portland Chamber Orchestra, PortlandFestival Orchestra and both the Vancouver, B. C.and Vancouver, Washington Symphony Orchestras.

A native of Portland, Oregon, Mr. Nordwallstudied with Goldie Poz and received his Bache-lor of Music Degree from the University of Port-land where he was a pupil of Arthur Hitchcock.Additional study was with the noted English/Canadian virtuoso, Frederick Geoghegan, Amer-ican virtuoso organist Richard Elsasser, and notedcomposer and organist Richard Purvis.

For many years he was the Senior StaffOrganist for the Organ Grinder Corporation,which had large theatre organs installed in restau-rants in Portland, Denver, and Colorado. Mr.Nordwall has been a very influential force in themusical instrument manufacturing industry havingbeen a product designer, marketing consultant,and recitalist for several organ manufacturers.

Jonas has been a frequent ATOS conventionartist and a former organ design specialist for theRodgers Organ Company. He was interested inkeyboard instruments at an early age and startedtaking accordian lessons at the age of 4. He quick-ly became interested in the organ and began clas-sical organ studies at the age of 12. At the age of18, Jonas began studies in organ at the Universityof Portland. For “kicks,” he served as assistantstaff organist at Oaks Park Skating Rink.

Jonas Nordwall

Anna Moffo, internationally acclaimed soprano,was born in Philadelphia, and grew up just out-

side of that city in Wayne, Pennsylvania.Although she was mostly interested in sports

during her high school days, upon graduation shewon a full scholarship to the renowned CurtisInstitute of Music, and also at the University ofPennsylvania. Upon her graduation from Curtis,she was awarded the coveted FulbrightFellowship, and studied at the Accademia diSanta Cecilia in Rome, the Accademia Chigianain Siena, The Conservatorio di Benedetto Marcelloin Venice, the Young Artist Program at La Scala inMilan, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Her very first audition landed her the title roleof Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly in Milan. Theperformance was televised live, and Anna,known ever since as “La Moffo,” was anovernight sensation, sought after by every theaterin the world. New York’s Metropolitan Opera,where she was the youngest soprano ever to havemade her debut as Violetta (in what has becomeher signature role) in La Traviata, has been herartistic home for more than forty years—and shehas not yet formally retired. She has sung at theVienna Staatsoper, Covent Garden in London, theTeatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Sydney OperaHouse in Australia, the Bayrische Oper inMunich, the Chicago Lyric Opera, the SanFrancisco Opera, the Salzburg Festival, TheOsaka and Tokyo Festivals, the EdinburghFestival, Teatro San Carlos in Lisbon, the RoyalOpera in Stockholm, the Teatro de Las BellasArtes in Mexico City, and most other concert andopera venues in the world.

She has appeared in concert and oratoriowith all the major orchestras, and has sung world-wide as a much-loved solo recitalist.

She had her own TV show in Rome for twelveyears, where every Saturday night she would singopera, operetta, Broadway musicals, dance withher own ballet company, and conduct some of theorchestral selections. She even composed some ofthe music for each broadcast.

Her numerous recordings and videos areworld famous, and she has made twelve non-singing movies.

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Anna Moffo has sung 146 major roles,including all the roles in The Tales of Hoffman (thefirst soprano ever to attempt this at theMetropolitan Opera, where she has also donetwenty-eight other roles), and she performed thefirst Met Concerts in the Parks.

She has sung for Kings and Queens and forseven American Presidents, and has receivednumerous awards and decorations including theCommendatore of the Italian Republic, anHonorary Doctor of Music from the Curtis Instituteof Music, the New York Governor’s Arts Awardfor Excellence, and most recently the NationalOpera Association Lifetime Achievement Award.In October 2002 she will be honored by theInstitute for Cancer Prevention for her work to sup-port the American Cancer Society and other med-ical organizations.

She has been described as one of the great-est sopranos of the century. Critics have remarkedon the sheer beauty of her voice, as well as herintense acting ability and legendary beauty.

She will certainly go down in history as oneof the greatest, and most generous, artists of ourtime.

Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, originally the YaarabTemple Shrine Mosque, was designed in the late1920’s as headquarters for the 5,000-memberShriner’s organization. It was a beautifully out-landish, opulent, grandiose monument to theheady excesses of the pre-crash 1920’s, amosque-like structure complete with minarets,onion domes, and an interior decor which waseven more lavish than its facade.

Entering the huge auditoriums, an earlyreviewer for the Atlanta Journal described “a pic-turesque and almost disturbing grandeur beyondimagination.” Visitors encounter an indoor Arabiancourtyard with a sky full of flickering stars andmagically drifting clouds; a spectacular stripedcanopy overhanging the balconies; stage curtainsdepicting mosques and Moorish rulers in handsewn sequins and rhinestones. The interior was amasterpiece of trompe l’oeil; false beams, falsebalconies, false tents, ornate grillwork hiding airconditioning and heating ducts. Virtually everypractical feature was disguised with artistic fantasy.

Detailing and furnishing were equallyornate. Nothing - no space, no furniture, no hard-ware - escaped the gilt, the tile, the geometricdesign. Men’s and Ladies’ Lounges, broom closets,telephone booths were all emblazoned with intri-cate plaster, bronze and painted detail.

Yet for all this seeming excess, The Foxretained a sense of tastefulness. As rich as it wasin ornamentation, it never appeared overstated.

Its history has been as dramatic as its decor.Surviving the economy has always been a way oflife for the building. Cost overruns threatened theYaarab Temple mosque from the outset. To gener-ate additional funding, the Shriners worked out adeal with movie mogul William Fox, who at thattime was building movie “palaces” in Detroit, St.

Meet Anna Moffo Sarnoff at a reception following “Fox atthe Fox” in the Grand Ballroom of the Georgian TerraceHotel, immediately across Peachtree Street from the FoxTheatre. Admission to the reception is by ticket, which canbe purchased at the entrance to the Grand Ballroom,where the stars of “Gone With The Wind” gathered afterthe world premiere of that historic movie. The receptionhonors all of the artists participating in VIRGIL FOXFESTIVAL 2002. Please join Ms. Moffo, Richard Morris,Larry Douglas Embury, Tom Hazleton, Lyn Larsen, andJonas Nordwall, and thank them for inspiring us.

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The Albert Schweitzer Music Award—“the musicworld’s most prestigious award”—will be pre-

sented during the September 1 Atlanta Fox Theatreconcert. The 2002 recipient is Anna Moffo,Metropolitan Opera soprano and philanthropist,who was married to Robert Sarnoff until his deathin the mid-1990’s.

The Schweitzer Award was instigated at ameeting between Rhena Schweitzer Miller, anAtlanta citizen and the only child of Dr.Schweitzer, and Virgil Fox’s manager, RichardTorrence. They were introduced at the organ con-sole of Peachtree Christian Church, Atlanta,where Ms. Miller called attention to the“Schweitzer Flöte” on the E. Power Biggs-designed Fratelli Ruffatti instrument. As a child,Dr. Schweitzer’s daughter had turned pages forCharles Marie Widor at Nôtre Dame de Paris,and her first husband was an organ builder, soshe was familiar with pipe organs. Mr. Torrencesuggested that it might be a “Swiss Flute,” andshe said that would be spelled differently; thiswas definitely named after her father, the eminentBach authority, organist, theologian, medical doc-tor, and Nobel Peace Prize awardee.

Ms. Miller expressed regret that her fatherhad not been better known as a musician.Although he was most famous as a medical doc-tor, “Bach was his passion.” She asked Torrenceif he would help her put on a concert in New Yorkfor the January 14, 1975 celebration of the100th anniversary of the birth of her father.Marshall Yaeger, who also worked with VirgilFox, subsequently suggested that the occasionestablish a music award in the name of her fatherso that people might ask, “Why a music award inthe name of Albert Schweitzer?”, thus highlight-ing his contributions in music. Yaeger wrote theproclamation for the award, “for a life’s workdedicated to music and devoted to humanity,”and established that the award would always begiven to a musician humanitarian.

The concert was discussed with Julius Bloom,Executive Director of Carnegie Hall, who offeredto help produce the concert. Isaac Stern was cho-sen as the first recipient by a committee whichincluded a representative of the Albert Schweitzer

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Fellowship (which sponsored the concert) and Dr.Walter Anderson, Head of the Music Departmentof the National Endowment for the Arts (and him-self an organist and composer).

On the actual 100th birthday anniversary, anall-Bach concert was presented at Carnegie Hall.Eugene Istomin opened with Bach on the piano.Marta Casals, wife of Bach specialist and cellistPablo Casals, hosted the evening, and read fromthe writings of Dr. Schweitzer. RichardWestenberg conducted the American SymphonyOrchestra and the Bethlehem Bach Choir. VirgilFox was soloist in the Bach D Minor Concerto,and played several solo works on the new fivemanual Rodgers organ in Carnegie Hall.

Subsequent recipients of the AlbertSchweitzer Music Award have been KatherineDunham 1979 (dancer, musician, educator), VanCliburn 1983 (pianist, cultural ambassador),Mstislav Rostropovich 1985 (cellist, conductor,human rights advocate), Leonard Bernstein 1987(pianist, composer, conductor, educator), JohnDenver 1992 (singer, composer, environmental-ist), and the Three Tenors (who are also prominenthumanitarians in various endeavors) JoséCarreras, Placido Domingo, and LucianoPavarotti (1998).

Anna Moffo, recipient of the 2002 AlbertSchweitzer Music Award, is also an educator andphilanthropist. She is an important supporter ofthe Metropolitan Opera, and continues to worktirelessly on behalf of the American CancerSociety, Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and othercultural and medical charities. The 2002Schweitzer Music Award was announced at aluncheon in New York hosted by Her RoyalHighness Princess Michael of Kent, Chairman ofAnchor-International Foundation, which adminis-ters the award with the approval of RhenaSchweitzer Miller.

Louis, Brooklyn and San Francisco. He made thishis Southeastern jewel with minor alterations inthe original blueprints.

The Fox opened as the Great Depressionbegan. After 125 weeks of talking pictures andelaborate stage entertainment, it declared bank-ruptcy. Revived after temporary city ownership, itscraped by during the 1930’s. Under strong man-agement The Fox prospered as one of Atlanta’sfinest movie houses from the 1940’s through the1960’s. Occasional live entertainment by nameartists and the Metropolitan Opera Company’s 20-year annual spring performances brought The Foxsome of its greatest moments of glory.

The time of the movie palace finally ran outaround 1973. Television, suburban flight and achanging movie industry took patrons elsewhere.Film distributors required month-long commit-ments for first-run films. While this was easy forsuburban theaters holding only 500 seats or so, itpresented a problem for the massive Fox. Withalmost 4,000 seats, it could complete a run in lessthan a week. The Fox was reduced to showingsecond-run movies to dwindling audiences.

The Fox faced yet another threat: therelentless growth of metropolitan Atlanta. Almostsold and demolished to make way for SouthernBell’s headquarters, it was rescued through theefforts of Atlanta Landmarks, Inc., a non-profitorganization of interested, energetic and commit-ted Atlantans. Their four-year “Save The Fox”fundraising campaign opened the hearts andpurse strings of individuals and corporate donors.Under Atlanta Landmarks’ ownership, The Foxwas once again put on a sound financial footingas a multi-purpose performing arts center. In1976, documents were submitted qualifying TheFox to be designated a National HistoricLandmark.

The moment Atlanta Landmarks took con-trol of The Fox, a restoration program began. Anarmy of volunteers went to work cleaning theinteriors for the first benefit concert. Volunteerlabor has been a significant ingredient in therestoration. As time passed, the work requiredskilled artisans to make the auditorium and exoticballrooms attractive enough to draw the largeaudience and quality shows necessary for success.

In 1987, a second fund raising campaignwas launched to “Fix The Fox.” It successfullyraised $4.2 million to improve safety code com-pliance, provide access for the handicapped, bet-ter equip the building to operate efficiently andpreserve it structurally.

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The Virgil Fox Society began in 1978 at therequest of Dr. Fox’s management and had

Virgil’s blessing and complete assistance. When hedied in 1980, his devoted followers urged us tokeep going and so we have.

The Society was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation on October 17, 2000, by thefiling of its Certificate of Incorporation with theSecretary of State of the State of New York. Lastsummer we were granted tax-exempt status fromthe Internal Revenue Service under 501(c)3.

Over the years the society has grown andbecome a major force in the organ world with itsvarious projects and concerts.

In 2000, after a very successful concert atThe Riverside Church in New York City, the socie-ty commissioned the completion of a book begunby Ted Alan Worth about Virgil Fox.

We have established The Virgil FoxPermanently Endowed Scholarship Fund underthe auspices of the American Guild of Organists,to encourage and support talented, young, aspir-ing organists who will benefit from this fund eachyear, some of whom otherwise would be unableto attend a Pipe Organ Encounter.

We are also in the process of arranging forthe permanent archiving of our materials at theAmerican Organ Archives of the Organ HistoricalSociety at Talbott Library, Westminster ChoirCollege, Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey.

We publish The Clarion, our official newsletter,twice yearly, sponsor and encourage memorialrecitals, and are actively participating with Anchor-International Foundation in a recording project thatwill bring to the public previously unreleasedrecordings of Virgil Fox as well as re-releases of hisrecordings.

Annual membership is $15 per year for USA,$18 Canada, $20 Other.

The Virgil Fox Society, Inc.P.O. Box 860179

Ridgewood, NY 11386www.virgilfox.com

— Steven FrankPresident, The Virgil Fox Society

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To date, more than $20 million has beenspent in the restoration project. The Fox boasts itsown in house Restoration Staff made up of highlyskilled artisans directed by a registered architectwith an expertise in Historic Preservation. TheRestoration Staff is fully engaged in restoring andpreserving the significant architectural features ofthe Fox in an authentic manner, including thedecorative surfaces, the masonry and cast stoneexterior, the furniture collection, and the archiveof artifacts and documentation. In addition, theRestoration Department is instrumental in thetechnological improvements and architecturalmodifications to the building. The activities of theRestoration Staff are funded by ticket surcharges,generous corporate and private donations, oper-ating surpluses, and benefits.

The Fox has generated an operating surplusevery year since Landmarks took over 25 yearsago in 1975. It may be the only independent,non-profit civic auditorium in the country whichcan sustain its own operations financially. At pres-ent some 325 nights a year are booked in theauditorium while the Egyptian Ballroom andGrand Salon are rented regularly for corporateevents, video and film shoots, political events,press conferences, sports presentations, proms,weddings, and a wide variety of special occasions.

A tribute to the Fox’s movie-palace heritageis the Summer Film Festival, a popular series ofhigh quality classic and contemporary films. Allfilm festival events feature a pre-movie “SingAlong” with the Mighty Moller organ, known as“Mighty Mo’”. The “Mighty Mo”, a 4000 pipe the-atrical organ, is extraordinarily maintained as isthe collection of the 1930’s era lyrics slides thatare projected to aid patrons in the sing along.This collection of slides is carefully housed withinthe archives of the Restoration Department.

In fact, The Fox has generated millions ofdollars for the Atlanta economy. An impressiverange of events continues to attract nearly three-quarters of a million visitors a year, from Atlantaarea residents to tourists to international digni-taries.

The Fox stands today as a fiercely protectedlandmark and a nationally acclaimed theater;having survived depression, mortgage foreclo-sure, bankruptcy, competition, television, realestate development, and above all, age.

The Fox is an impeccable intact and aggres-sively preserved Landmark that has been desig-nated both a National Historic Landmark (thehighest national ranking) and a “Museum”(themost prestigious statewide ranking).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSAtlanta’s Fox Theatre

Edgar Neiss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General ManagerWendy Riggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant General ManagerPat “Sunshine” Tucker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Box Office ManagerRoxanne Giles Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director of Sales/BallroomsPat Prill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . House ManagerShellly Kleppsattel . . . . Manager, Admin. and Community ServicesMartha Gardner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Group Sales DirectorEleanor Sams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display ManagerDewey Strang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Production ManagerAndrew Nielsen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Production ManagerRobert L. Foreman Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1st Vice PresidentBeauchamp C. Carr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2nd Vice PresidentJoe G. Patten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Organ Curator

and all the Staff of the Fox Theatre

Georgian Terrace HotelJerry Broz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General ManagerJim O'Connell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director of SalesDereck Patterson . . Entertainment and Conference Sales ManagerMichael McPeake . . . Director of Catering and Conference Services

The Camberly Hotel Company and its entire staff

Spivey HallSherryl Nelson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Executive DirectorSteve MacQueen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marketing DirectorRobert Serredell . . . . . . . Campus Services & Production ManagerLisa Maxey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community Services Manager

and all the Staff of Spivey Hall

Special ThanksSteven Frank/The Virgil Fox Society, Maureen Davis Howe, RobertVan Allen, Len Levasseur/Program Design, Michael Collier, ShannonFore, Luca Baraonda, Tony Staffieri and Carrie Waible of SavvyPartners/New York, Lynn Friedman and Deborah Garner of GeminiAgency/Atlanta, Ruth Waddell of Graham Advertising/Atlanta, TimCurtin of A.V.H.Q./Atlanta, Bill Allgood of Allgood Productions/Atlanta, Phil Parkey/Dean of the Atlanta Chapter of the AmericanGuild of Organists, John McCall/President of the Atlanta Chapter ofthe American Theatre Organ Society, Marshall Yaeger/CirclesInternational, Anchor-International Foundation

Virgil Fox(The Dish)

432 pages, 65 photos

Available Today!Signed by the Authors

Concert Price — $30

More than 2,000 copies of the biographyof Virgil Fox, based on a lengthy memoirby Fox’s confidant and protégé, Ted AlanWorth, have been ordered by Foxenthusiasts. In this historic publication,Fox’s closest friends, managers, andartistic collaborators have fashioned anaffectionate and spicy portrait of theirreverent genius.

Order fromwww.organarts.com or www.amazon.com

or Send $35(which includes shipping & handling ) to

Circles InternationalOne Lincoln Plaza - #32P

New York, New York 10023

or Call toll-free800.486.6628

“Long-awaited...enough facts, tidbits, and morselsto keep Fox fans between the covers for severaldays...fascinating...poignant...will surely bringtears.”—Theatre Organ, September 2001

“A fascinating new memoir [and] outstanding anddefinitive portrait of a master artist and his cir-cle.... This lively book seems destined to standsquarely beside Fox and his legacy. It is the verydefinition of his artistic immortality and the distil-lation of his larger-than-life personality.”—RayBiswanger, The American Organist, October, 2001

“I doubt that biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin orhistorian David McCullough would have produceda work as touching or as provocative...This book isa great read, and I recommend it highly.”—JohnBishop, The American Organist, February 2002

“While extremely informative and witty with astyle that makes for a good page-turner, thismemoir still successfully covers the whole spec-trum of emotions. There is pathos and there is tri-umph...and the recognition of a musician whowas arguably one of the world’s greatest organ-ists ever.”—Greg Cunningham. Organist’s Review(London), February 2002

With an authenticity of chronicling few biogra-phies can claim, the book is one of the most rivet-ing you’ll find about any organist [as well as] anunexpectedly moving one. It also gets high marksfor honesty...really quite refreshing compared tothe detached tone of most organ-related biogra-phy—Jonathan Ambrosino, Choir and Organ(London), June, 2002